Mode of constructing the bottom end of ferrules for canes



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JONATHAN BALL, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

MODE OF CONSTRUCTING TI-IE BOTTOM END OF FER-RULES FOR CANES, CRUTGHES, AND WOODEN LEGS.

Specieaton of Letters Patent No. 2,297, dated October 11, 1841.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be itlrnown that I, JONATHAN BALL, of Buffalo, county of Erie, and State ot' New York, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Constructing the Ferrules for Canes, Crutches, and IVooden Legs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of it.

The nature of my invention consists in constructing the bottom ferrule with the socket as usual to receive the wood, with the hollow extending through its length (see letter A in the accompanying drawings). I construct an end piece which iits closely within the bottom end of the ferrule with a slot through it, near the top end, which piece projects a short distance below the ferrule (see letter B). I insert a pin or screw through the ferrule which passes through the slot in the end piece giving it a movement the length of the slot (see letter C), or I dispense with the pin or screw and slot in the end piece by contracting the hollow in the bottom end of the ferrule,

and by enlarging the top end of the end piece, like the head of a screw, which end piece I pass into the top end of the ferrule and the head rests upon the contracted parts (see letter D in the third cut of the drawings). I insert a steel spiral spring within the ferrule, with one end rest-ing on the end piece and the other against the wood of the cane or `crutch (see letter E); this prevents the usual ar to the hand or shoulder, and its elasticity is especially useful to the unfortunate, in the crutch and wooden leg.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- The employment of a spiral spring in the ferrule ot a cane, crutch or wooden leg, against which the end piece bears in pressing down the cane, &c., for the purpose and in the manner speciiied.

JONATHAN BALL.

IVitnesses:

I-I. C. S. GOUMMELL, THEoDoRE SoUsA. 

